This is the second in a series of posts to remember the life of our dog, Trinity. She was a dog who escaped death many times. If you missed the first part of this series, you can read it here. And here, you can find another story about one of Trinity’s many scrapes with death.

After Trinity’s unfortunate adventure at my parents’ house, we got back to my apartment and got settled in. Eventually, she recovered fully. She still had some digestive issues that stayed with her. I put her on a special hypoallergenic food, and that mostly solved the problem. Otherwise, Trinity was a happy, healthy young dog. She had a happy tail that wagged constantly. It could put a bruise on your leg, or knock your drink off the coffee table! Sometimes, it was hard to tell who was wagging who!

A year went by. I moved into a house with a couple of friends. Trinity would have a backyard to play in. She would have other dog friends to play with (once she got used to them, of course).

She was happy living in that house, and so was I. We’d take walks around the neighborhood together. We played fetch with Trinity’s toy hedgehog in the backyard. We played chase in the backyard.

One day, one of my roommates fried up some venison backstrap. She put the trimmings and scraps in a plastic bag in the trash. Apparently, Trinity couldn’t resist. She got into the trash, ripped open the bag, and ingested the contents. She got very sick – again. This time, it was, according to the vet, E. coli…or an E. coli-type infection. She had to stay with the vet for a couple of days. Again, she made a full recovery and was able to come home. We resumed our life as a care-free college student and her dog.

Another way, another move. I moved a little way outside of town. My new roommate already shared the property with a dog and two horses. Trinity really enjoyed the rural life.

About a week after we moved in, my roommate had her horses tied to the front yard fence, washing them. I came home and let Trinity out of her kennel, and out in the front yard to do her business…just as I did every day. I was obviously not thinking clearly! She went charging out the door, straight for those horses on the other side of the fence. She ran up to them, barking. As she got to the fence, though, she looked up and realized just how incredibly big those horses were…and how small she was! Just at that moment, the younger of the two horses reached his head over the fence, and began to nibble up and down Trinity’s back. Trinity froze. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Trinity had met her match.

She remembered her lesson for a while. But one day, I had the bad luck to let Trinity out at exactly the same time that my roommate was letting the horses out to graze. They would always take a few minutes to run and buck and play before settling down to eat a little. One of Trinity’s favorite things to do was chase things. And that’s exactly what she did. She ran straight for the fence, scooted underneath it, and ran after those horses. I don’t know if the horses even noticed her. She chased them to the back of the property. The horses came back, making their full circle. But Trinity didn’t.

My roommate and I started walking out towards the back of the property, calling for Trinity. We walked a little way, and finally saw Trinity coming…on three legs. One of her front legs was very clearly broken. My roommate very kindly offered to drive us to the vet.
So, I lifted Trinity and carried her to my roommate’s truck. Off to the vet we went. It was fairly late in the afternoon, so Trinity had to stay overnight to have her leg set and casted. I brought her home on my way home from class the next day. She was still the same happy Trinity with the same happy tail. The cast made it hard for her to walk, but she soon figured it out. It took about two months, but her leg finally healed. Needless to say, I as on a first name basis with the entire staff at our veterinary clinic.

Trinity got used to her newly-healed leg. She was back to running and playing chase in no time…just not with the horses!